Cotton-picker&#39;s knee-pad.



No. 893,547, PATENTED JULY 14,1908.

H. ROBERTS.

COTTON PICKERS KNEE PAD.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.18.1907.

W Zan/5.52586 fnUen/al" Wb., fgf? @y HENRY ROBERTS, OF IIYDEPARK, CALIFORNIA.

COTTON-PICKERS KNEE-PAD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 14, 190e.

Application filed March 18, 1907. Serial No. 363,120.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that LlrInnnY ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States, residing at IIydepark, in the county of Los Angeles and the State of California, have invented a new and useful Cotton-Fickers Knee-Pad, of which the following is a specification.

It is eustoinarypin cotton fields for each cotton-picker to be supplied. with a bag of great length, usually about twelve feet long, which is fastened to his body, and which he allows to drag on the ground behind him, while he advances on his knees between two rows of cotton, and gathers the cotton from the rows and puts the same in the bag; continuing across the field, to and fro, until the bag is filled. Such bags when full usually contain eighty pounds, more or less, of cotton, and therefore the labor of dragging such bag over the ground and between the rows places a severe burden upon the knees of the picker, and it is necessary that some character of pad be worn upon his knees in order to enable him to perform his work with any degree of satisfaction or success.

It is of the objects of this invention to provide knee-pads which will afford to the cotton-picker maximum ease, and which will protect his knees and clothing from abrasion and wear; which are not liable to work loose; which will stay firmly in position while the wearer kneels and also while he is walking that are cheap, light, durable, and easily constructed, and that are easily applied to and remove d from the leg.

IIeretofore, knee-pads for cotton-pickers have been variously constructed and vari ously padded, some being provided with a stiff shoe or base with an internal padding of horse-hair or other padding material. An objection I have noted relative to all such pads is that the material of the pad will set to the form of the knee, and that slight irregularities therein will impress the flesh of the knee, causing great discomfort and inconvenience to the wearer.

An object of my invention is to provide a knee-pad which will not become set to the form of the knee, but will constantly afford a resilient cushion for all parts of the knee which bear down upon the pad. rIlhis I accomplish by providing a shoe in which an air bag is contained and held in position to support the downward pressure of the knee. ""i" est In experimenting for the purpose of perfecting this invention I have found it necessary to make provision against tightly binding the leg, and to also provide for holding the air-bag against displacement, and in order to accomplish this in the most satisfactory manner, I have provided a shoe open ,at the top and having a forwardly deepening cavity above a rearwardly thickened sole for holding an air-bag having its greatest thickness at that portion of the shoe where the weight of the knee presses most heavily.

It is to be understood that the invention may be used in other work than cotton-picking such for instance as for floor-polishers use, and in such cases a soft covering may be supplied for the bottom of the shoe, butI shall herein describe and show the invention without such soft sole, as it is advisable in field work to provide a sole of very durable material, as sheet metal, or the like.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention in theform I find most satisfactory.

Figure l is a perspective view of a cottonpickers knee-pad embodying my invention in use attached to a knee. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal mid-section of the device shown in Fig. l, detached, and omitting the lacings. Line ft2, Fig. 3, indicates the line of section. Fig. 3 is a fragmental, sectional elevation on line a3, Fig. 2, looking in the directionof the arrow. Fig. l is an enlarged, fragmental, sectional detail of one of the side walls of the shoe shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a plan of the knee-pad detached, omitting the lacings. Fig. 6 is a fragmental, sectional detail showing one form of valve for the air-bag. Fig. 7 is a fragmental, sectional detail showing another form of the valve for the air-bag.

l is a shoe open at the top and rear and provided with a perforation 2 in one of its walls, as the front wall 3. Meanse, 5, 6, are provided for fastening the shoe to the knee, the same comprising flaps to be secured by lacings a, l), inserted through eyelets c, c, appropriately located in said flaps.

7 is a flexible shield inside the shoe, and 8 is an air-bag inside the shoe between the shield 7 and the sole 9 which is wedge-shaped the large end of the wedge being at the rear, as clearly seen in Fig. 2. Said air-bag is provided with a nipple-valve 10 at said perforation 2. Said nipple-valve l0 preferably eX- tends through the perforation 2 at the front end of the shoe and is provided with the usual in the pad and secure the same by the lacing's cap 11, and may be protected by an external flap 12 fastened to the wall of the shoe above the perforation 2 to extend down over the nipple. Said flap may have a recess 13 to accommodate the ca of the nipple. 1t is desirable that the nipple and cap form as slight a projection as possible, and with this object in view the valve may be made short outside of the air-bag, an inner valve-flap 14 being provided in some instances to form the closure of the valve or any ordinary construction of a bicycle-valve, as shown at 15 in Fig. 7, may be used. v

The shoe 1 is referably made of sheet metal appro riate y formed with a flat-bot tom sole 9, ront wall 3, and side walls d, e.

The sole being made of sheet metal, is hollow,

the top thereof being formed of a stri bent in between the walls d, e. The flexib e shield 7 and the flaps 4, 5, 6, are preferably 'formed of a single sheet of strong, flexible material, as canvas, the same being bent upon the side and front walls and appropriately secured by sheet-metal clips or strips, as 16, 17, the lower edges of the first two of which trend downward rearwardly from the level of the bottom edge of strip 1S so as to cause the shield to slope backward rearwardly from the front wall toward the level of the top of the rear thick end of the sole 9, so as to form a forwardly enlarged wedge-shaped cavity ben tween the wedge-shaped sole and the flexible shield 7, thereby tending to enable the knee to press forward the air-bag 8 contained in the space between said sole and shield. Said clips or strips of sheet metal are secured in lace by means of rivets 19, 20, 21, thereby irmly holding the canvas in place.

The clips 16, 17, for the side walls are U- shaped and are inverted over the top edges of the side walls after the canvas wings 4, 5, forming the shield and flaps have been folded over the top edges of said side walls. When the U-shaped clips are firmly brought into position to hold the shield appropriately, they are fastened in place by rivets 19. The upper rivets 20 for securing the strip 18 may extend through the flap 12 as well as through the canvas for the flap 6, and through the strip 18, thus holding all firmly to the front wall 3. 4

The inside wings of the clips 16, 17, are cut away, as shown at 22, above the rear thick portion of the sole, so that the shield 7 maybe lifted up suiciently from the thick sole to insert the air-bag into place and bring its nipple 10 through the perforation 2. The sole is provided with perforations 23 through which lacings 24 may be passed to secure the rear end of the shield 7 to the sole and prevent the displacement of the air-bag.

In practical use, the air-bag will rst be inflated; then the wearer will place his knee a, t, bringing the shield 6 up in front of the leg. The pad will then be ready for use.

By these means the pad is rovided with ,a

cushioning device which wil not set tothe form of the knee, and will not irritate the knee by any irregularities, and the pad will not become displaced. In case the air-bag should become deflated, the shield will temporarily support the knee with comfort until the bag can be reinflated. Enough slack is given to the shield 7 to allow it to bow upward as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, when the air-bag is fully inflated, thus allowing the shield to be resiliently supported by the airba Vhat l claim is 1. A cotton pickers knee-pad comprising a shoe adapted to be fastened to the leg at the knee, a flexible shield in the shoe attached at a distance above the floor to the walls of the shoe to form a support for the knee, and an airebag in the shoe between the shield and the sole of the shoe to normally support the shield'and the knee.

2. A cotton pickers knee-pad comprising a shoe open at top and rear, means for fastening the shoe to the leg at the knee, a flexible shield in the shoe fastened to the walls thereof at front and sides at a distance above the floor of the shoe to form a support for the,

knee, an air-bag in the shoe between the sole and the shield to normally support the shield and knee, and means for temporarily fastening the rear of the shield to the rear of the shoe-sole.

3. A cotton pickers knee-pad comprising a shoe open at top and rear, means for fastening the shoe to the leg at the knee, a flexible shield inside the shoe fastened to the sides thereof, the rear end of the shield and the sole being perforated, an airebag in the shoe between the shield and the shoesole, and a lace in the perforation to fasten the rear of the shield to the shoe.

4. A knee shoe provided with an air cushion, means at the rear to go around the leg below the knee to fasten the shoe to the leg, and a shield at the front of the shoe to protect the front of the leg and to connect the front of the shoe with the leg.

.5. A knee shoe provided with a flat sole the top of which slopes forwardly and a wall extending upward at the edges of the sole front and sides `to form a cavity deeper at front than rear, means for fastening the shoe to the leg, an air cushion inside the cavity, and means to retain said bag therein.

6. A knee shoe provided with a flexible shield above the sole of the shoe, an air bag under the shield provided with a nipple valve, the nipple thereof extending through the wall of the shoe, and a flap provided inside the shoe as a closure for the valve.

soA

7. A knee shoe provided with a flexible my hand at Los Angeles California this 2nd shield above thdsole of th shoefl an air-blag dav of March 1907. under the shie provide Wit ani evalve7 the nipple thereof extending,` thriigh HENRY ROBERTS' 5 the Wall of the shoe, and a flap outside the In presence ofshoe to cover the nipple of the valve. JAMEs R. TOWNSEND,

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set A M. BEULAr-I TOWNSEND. 

